Oil still



Jan. 18 1927' J. PRIMRosE OIL STILL Filed April 7. 1921 Inventor :VfL f 351,1@ amsmw's Patented Jan. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES;

lPerri-:NT OFFICE.-

JOHN rnmaosr., or DoNGAN HILLS, NEW Yonx, .assIaNon ro rownn SPECIALTY COMPANY, F NEW YOBK, N. Y.,

.A CORPORATION Olf" NEW YORK.

0n; STEL,

Application led April 7,

My invention is an improvement-in processes for distilling crude oils orpthe recovery of the useful products of dlierent degrees of volatilitysuch as gasolene', kerosene and the heavier distillates The obJect of the invention, in the main, is to recover the distillate products more econom1callythan has heretofore been done, by the conservation and utilization of the heat developed l0 and also to simplify the apparatus employed.

In general, the new process which I have devised consists in subjecting the crude oil 1n a still to heat in the usual way, the tempera'- ture being such as will produce the vaporization lof the heaviest hydrocarbon which 1t is desired to distill. The vapors thus produced are passed to and through a tower or like device where the volatile vaporsare separated from the remaining oil orresiduuln,

and are then passed4 through a series of air cooled condensers, the temperature of each being controlled by the amount of air passing through it, so as to condense out the heaviest hydrocarbon vapor, the remaming vapor being passed to the next succeeding air cooled condenser and so on through the series.

The air heated by its passage through ^the condensers is returned to the furnace where it is utilized for promotingcombustion and heating the crude oil originally, and the heat of the residuum and of the heavler separated distillates is also utilized in heat exchangers to heat the crude oil on its way to the still.

This process may be carried out. by various forms of apparatus, but for purpose of illustration I have shown a simpleform which fully meets all of the requirements of commercial. practice. This apparatus is shown in the accompanying drawing, which is a schematic illustration of such devices as are necessary to a full 'understanding of the invention.

In the illustration, 1 designates a still of lany proper and usual character, from the heating pipes or coils of which the vapors are led by a pipe 2 to a separatingtoweror other knownv device 3 for separatin out #0 from the vapors the hea oil or resi uum which latter collects in t e bottom of the tower andV is conducted off by a pipe 4 to a heat exchanger 5.

The vapors from the tower`are led to an 5 oil cooled condenser 6. This is or may be a 1921. serial No. 459,234.

chamber, preferably composed of cylindrical shells, heat insulated, with tube sheets 7 at top and bottom into which relatively long tu es 8 are expanded. The bottom tube sheet is exposed to the atmosphere and the, closed conical -top is connected to a-pipe 9 with \which a fan or suction pump 10 is connected up, and which draws the cold air upY through the tubes 8 and delivers it to the furnace where it is used to promote the combus- 'tion of the oil or other fuel used to heat the crude oil undergoing distillation.

There are a series of these air-cooled condensers, preferably, or in this case, four; all similar in construction, and all provided with any-suitable and known means for regulating the amount of cold air passing through them.- A .pipe 11 conveys superheated steam to the bottom of each condenser and also to the bottom of the separating tower, so that the vapor tension in each may be regulated to produce the distillate desired. K

When in operation the vapors in the first condenser are .cooled to a point which permits only the heaviest hydro-carbons or what is known as the wax distillates to separate out, and these are drawn off by a pipe 12.'

The uncondensed vapors pass over to the next condenser by the pipe 13, in which the next heavier distillate or gas oil is separated out. Tlus oil is led by a discharge pipe 14 into a heat exchanger 15. From this second condenser the uncondensed vapor is led/to the third condenser, and so on.

The crude oil is led by a pipe 16 throughv the heat exchangers 15 and 5 whereby it is heated to a relatively high temperature by the time it reaches the still. The amount of cold air drawn through the condensers will v determine the character of the distillate which each of said condensers produces. An suitable means may be provided for suc regulation, and I have shown dampers 17 in the outlet pipes of the condensers for this purpose.

By ,following the process above described, an actual and substantial saving in the amount of fuel required for the distillation of a given quantity of crude oil is eiected, and the nature of the elements or'devices used in carrying out the process more than compensates for their number' by their simplicity and cheapness. v

What I now claim as my invention is still with products of combustion evolved inl 1. The' process of fractions distillationherein, described which consists inheating a a-furnace, passing from the still theuncon- 'densed'vapors through a series of air cooled l condensers having different temperatures,

' burned in the furnace and used for distilling recovering from each condenser the distillate resulting 'from the temperature, drawdensers, and' freturn'in the air' which is drawn through the con ensers tothe furnace for promoting the combustionof the fuel the oil'to thereby usefully recover heat. from 4the condensers.

'2. The process of fractional distillation which consists in burnin -fuel products and air in a furnace andl wlth the products of .conibustion thus evolved subjectingcrude oil to a .temperature suicient to vaporize the heaviest oils which it is desired to disti11,

passing the vapors 'to a separator in which the-vapors are separated from the residuum, thenpassing the va of air cooled con ensers ofvdiiferent temperatures, recovering from each the distil rs through a-succession late resulting fromfsuch temperature, re-

turning the air'which is heated by being drawn. throughthe condensers to` the fur.

JOHN PRIMROSE.

w ereoff I hereto alixy my 

